The Upbringing
by Speighticousxx
Summary: Everyone knows the story of the girl who found out she was divergent and the damaged by who she fell in love with. But who knows much about the mysterious Eric? About his upbringing, his past to make him the way he was? In a world that he could never understand, with people he could never befriend, with a girl he could never love.
1. First Day

**Hi guys! Okay so this is my first fanfiction and I would love to hear your thoughts on it! I'm new to this so don't really know what to expect. I have a few ideas in mind for this story so hopefully, if supported enough, will turn out to be a great one!**

 **Love always, Jess xx**

 **Setting**

 _Chicago, 2011. The city is split into 5 factions to keep the peace. Each faction contributes into helping control a different aspect of the city, all 5 factions working together to help the city run smoothly. When the children of each faction turn 11, they must attend a faction school, in which volunteers from each faction come and teach the children about their ways and traditions. When the children reach the age of 16, they must attend the choosing ceremony and choose their faction._

 **Chapter 1**

The iron gates loomed above me, each of the faction symbols standing out brightly against the black bars. The first one I noticed was the blue eye of Erudite staring down on me, the way it had been for the past 11 years. There was always something cold about that eye, the way it always seemed to judge you whenever you saw it – almost as if it belonged to the cold but powerful leader of Erudite – Jeanine. I felt a shiver run up my spine. I knew that eye always represented more than just a faction but I could never put my finger on it. Power? Hatred?

Next to the Erudite symbol was the bright orange flames of Dauntless. I'd always envied the Dauntless, how they could run through the streets and seemed to not have a care in the world. The brave, fearless, reckless. I remember being a kid and being able to run through the streets of Erudite with them until my legs couldn't run anymore. I loved that feeling of recklessness, the feeling I could conquer the world with them – it made me feel fearless. Fearless of my upbringing, fearless of them, of what they thought of me. I knew I could never be one of the dauntless, my parents made sure of that.

Followed by dauntless was the soft grey hands, representing the selfless abnegation, then the red tree to represent the kind natured Amity, and finally the weighing scales to represent the brutal but honest Candor.

The 5 symbols seemed to glare down at me, each one screaming down at me to come to them, to choose them at the end of the 5 years. I start to feel slightly uneasy and feel as though I'm about to faint. Someone must notice because I feel a large hand on my arm pull me straight and steady me. By instinct, I flinch and stumble away, turning round, ready to face my attacker. Instead I am greeted by a skinny middle aged man, wearing worn, grey clothes that seem to hang off his skinny frame. He wore a kind smile but had a tired and worn face, yet stood proud and tall.

"Woah kid, calm down." He smiled reassuringly

"Oh, er, sorry." I stutter

"Don't worry kid, it's not all as big and bad as it seems."

I acknowledge his kind words and give him a nod of thanks. He leads me through the gates and towards the large, brown building. I can see from across the grass students from all 5 factions, the ones from Amity have long flowing hair and flowing clothes, the ones from Candor are l dressed smartly in black and white, the Abnegation students dressed in worn, baggy clothes – almost all of them grey. The dauntless are dressed in black clothes, mostly black jackets and heavy boots, even though it still is technically summer. All the Erudite, like me, are dressed in smart blue suits and dresses, clearly suffering from the heat more than others.

"So are you an Abnegation Tutor?" I ask, hoping he would be. It would be nice to know someone before I enter the building.

The man lets out a small chuckle. "No kid, I'm Andrew Prior, the caretaker." He paused for a moment, looking like wanted to say something but hesitating. "So do you have a name, or do I call you kid?" Andrew smiled.

I hesitated. My parents had always told me to be cautious around people didn't know, but I felt like I already knew Andrew. There was just something about him that was so open. Like he made you feel like you could tell your deepest, darkest secrets to him and he wouldn't judge or hate you. I could tell he was going to be someone I could trust.

"Eric" I said, "Eric Coulter."

 **Thank you for reading! I really hope this story takes off but I guess we'll see** **J** **. Like I said before please tell me your thoughts on this! Any comments, suggestions? Thanks again!**

 **Love always, Jess xx**


	2. New Faces

**Hi guys! Okay so the last chapter was a short one just to see if it got people's interest, this one's a bit longer. I hope you guys enjoy it!**

 **Love always, Jess xx**

 **Chapter 2**

The classroom was larger than I expected, the walls brightly coloured and decorated using autumn leaves. I already knew where we were heading before I even walked in there – Amity classroom. You can smell it from the other end of the corridor! There's always something I didn't like about Amity, they always seemed to happy and acted like there weren't any faults in life. They were living in a fantasy land created by the peace serum they were constantly digesting – ugh. The classroom desks were decorated with flowers in the middle, each desk having a different coloured bouquet. All the Amity kids were dancing round the classroom and smelling all the different flowers, the rest of us just sat there counting down the minutes until we can leave. 3 minutes down, 27 to go…..

As I was counting the seconds on the clock I didn't realise the boy standing in front of me.

"Uh-hum" The boy stuttered.

I looked up. He was clearly an Abnegation. His grey clothes were worn down and baggy across his shoulders. His clothes seemed to cover up a lot of his thin frame. Odd. On a warm day like today. He had long-ish brown hair and wore a nervous look on his face, his eyebrows creased.

"Can I sit? The Amity kids are trying to put flowers in my hair"

I glanced over at the Amity kids and they were throwing flowers around and making flower chains, tying them round each other's heads to try and make headbands and crowns with them.

"Sure. My name's Eric" I tried to look as confident as possible. Andrew said that's the best way to make friends when he dropped me off at the classroom. He said that people will always approach you if you look like you want to be talked to. I don't think my parents would be very happy with me going home without any new friends being made. They always say that great leaders must have their followers, for without the followers there would be no leader, only a single man with a dream.

The boy cuts my thought line short. "Tobias"

The boy sits down next to me awkwardly, he's not the most graceful person in the world. As he moves to sit his top lifts up and I see bruises lining the bottom of his back. I'm about to question him when were interrupted by an elegant Amity tutor entering the room.

Johanna.

"Students, please be seated. I know you're excited for your first day but, like every other school, there are rules that must be followed"

She started listing off the typical rules you get when you go into any building: don't run through the corridors, treat others with respect, don't damage equipment, and keep the peace blah blah blah.

10 minutes down, 20 to go.

After some very boring arts and crafts with Amity, were finally let free. Tobias and I walk down the stairs together, heading to our next session. Candor.

The rest of the day flows by pretty easily. Typical introductions from each faction, a little insider into their ways and life. The only ones I was remotely interested in were Erudite (obviously), Candor and Dauntless. Tobias wasn't very talkative though, we sat together in all of our classes but we only talked about our factions. He wasn't really letting me in to his actual life. In fairness, this was only the first day. Maybe one day I'll see what really lies underneath the mask of Tobias..? I don't even know his last name…

When the end of the day came me and Tobias walked out together, tired from our first day. I'm pretty sure all the kids look like zombies by now, glad to be getting back into their own faction and back into their own lives. It's pretty neat that the faction school is placed in the middle of the 5 factions. Every faction goes their separate ways at the end of the day. Me and Tobias say our goodbyes and go our separate ways, him turning left at the gates and me turning right.

When I get home, I can smell casserole cooking on the stove. Blythe is sat on the sofa reading Jane Austen and Daniel is sat at his desk sorting through finances. As I walk through the large entryway I stop for a moment and think. I've always admired this house, it's not the typical warm and cuddly family home you usually see, and it's large and cold, yet practical. There's everything you'd ever need to live in a house like this plus lots of extra books and novels. Erudite are big on reading, they say it's the greatest factor of our minds. They say without books, the human race would suffer massively.

The main two colours of the house are white and blue. The blue to represent the faction and the white to represent the purity within it. There are lots of vases and ornaments dotted around the house, with large portraits hung up on the wall. When I first arrived, I immediately knew Blythe and Daniel must be loaded and thought I was going to spend the rest of my childhood being the most spoiled kid. I was wrong. They're version of spoiled was been given new books and an essay to do every week. And then for Christmas and birthdays being given even more books. Books books books.

As I always do when I enter the house, I take off my shoes and line them up on the shoe rack, then take off upstairs to read some books. I would usually do my homework but since it's the first day we didn't have any. As a replacement, Blythe always says, we need to use our time to study.

I stay in my room until dinner, reading 'to kill a mockingbird'. When I'm called down to dinner, I see a bowl of casserole placed in my seat and Blythe and Daniel sat in their seats. They wait until I'm sat down and we exchange a nod of greeting before starting to eat. Its 5 minutes before Daniel starts up a conversation.

"So, Eric. How was your first day?" I always like the way Daniel tries to lighten everything up. It's obvious Blythe has had a hard day, her hair is slightly teased and there are slight bags under her eyes. Daniel can clearly tell as well so I can tell he's trying to lighten up the mood.

I shrug in response. "Okay I guess"

"Make any friends?" Daniel questions.

Blythe interrupts our conversation. "Pass me the bread, Daniel"

Daniel looks at her with the slightest hint of annoyance in his eyes and passes her the bread. As soon as she has it he turns his attention back to me, that smile immediately reappearing on his face.

I smile sheepishly. "Yeah I did actually, Tobias"

"Oh, is he new? Don't think I've seen him round the neighbourhood" He nervously looks at Blythe but I don't realise why until the words are already out of my mouth.

"Oh no, he's Abnegation"

At the word 'abnegation', Blythe slams her hand down on the dining room table, I snap my head to hers and see the mistake I've made. I see the fury raging through her eyes, her whole body is tense and her already sharp jawbones look like they could rip through her face at any point. When she speaks, her voice is a deathly quiet.

"What did you just say?" Her eyes narrow at me.

I stutter, trying to get out some sort of explanation about how he came to sit next to me but the words just come. When you're being questioned by Blythe, everything changes. She seems to suck all the words out of you with just one glare.

She starts to shout. "Well?!"

I flinch. I've been shouted at many times before, but each time she gets angry it seems to get worse. She reminds of a time bomb, each time she gets that little but closer to exploding. I look over to Daniel for support but he has his head down, knowing

"Well he came to sit next to me in our first class and - "

She slams her hand down to silence me again.

"You are an Erudite! You have expectations to follow. You can't be seen running round with some silly Abnegation Boy! What kind of parents do that make us look like? Imagine what the committee – what Jeanine! – will think of me! You're a disgrace to yourself, you're a disgrace to Erudite, you're a disgrace to me!"

At that, I leave the table and walk upstairs. You always know when it's best to leave Blythe to cool off, and I fear that if I stayed I would have started crying. That shows weakness and Blythe doesn't like it when you show your weakness. She grew up in Dauntless so she's always had that harsh streak about her. I don't blame her as much as I should but she was raised that way so that's all she knows. I guess her then living up to her elbows in Erudite books and constantly under the cold stare of Jeanine didn't exactly warm her up.

I reach my bedroom and as soon as my door closes I crumple to the floor. I will myself not to cry, knowing that Daniel will be up soon and he can always tell when I've been crying. I reach for one of my books to try and take my mind off Blythe, but by the time I've opened the book the tears are already running down my face and onto the pages of the book in my lap.

 **So you've been introduced to some of the new characters, what do you think? Please review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!**

 **Love always, Jess xx**


	3. First week Dilemmas

**Chapter 3**

 **Hey Guys! Okay so I thought I'd try different characters POV's just to see if it would work with the story. I think it's important to include the other characters perspectives although the story will be mainly from Eric's POV. I hope you enjoy!**

 **Eric's POV**

The next week passes by slowly, Blythe and Daniel keep to themselves mostly although every so often I get an apologetic smile off Daniel. I can't blame him really. His choices are his wife who he's been in love with and devoted his whole life to, or his fostered son who he's only known for 4 years. I'm used to being alone though, it's the way I was raised. Funny. They thought that taking me away from them would help me but, in fact, it's just made my life lonelier and more depressing. Sucks to be me I guess.

I haven't spoken to Tobias all week, scared of what Blythe would say if she found out. She's very high up in Erudite, I bet she has eyes and ears all over the place, it wouldn't take her long to find out. I think of me and Tobias like George and Lennie in Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men'. 2 people walking one behind the other down a wide path, knowing they can never be friends.

I've started speaking to Andrew more often now, we go sit behind the bunker in the field. It's nice to talk to Andrew, I was right about him when I first met him. I haven't told him about Blythe but I think he knows somethings not right. He doesn't pressure me to open up about it and I appreciate it. I'm not the kind of kid that will spill all their problems out to anyone close enough to hear. They taught me that, it makes you weak. If I'm going to succeed, I can't be weak, I have to be strong.

Its lunch on Friday and me and Andrew are sat in our usual spot by the bunker. The bunker is blocking the sun and it's nice to be able to get out of the heat for once. I'm trying to eat but my hair keeps dangling in front of my eyes. Stupid typical Erudite hair. Why are fringes thought to make you look smarter, they just cover up the fact some of us have big foreheads and get require cutting every two weeks. I would get a new look but Blythe wouldn't approve.

"So anything new with you today? You've been pretty quiet all week"

I shrug my shoulders. "Yeah, just getting used all of this." I motion to the school with my arm, a sandwich in my other hand.

I can tell he knows I'm lying but he doesn't intrude. "What happened to that kid I saw you with on your first day? Haven't seen you with him since then." He pauses for a moment, a smirk appearing on his face. "Oh, you haven't had a fallout have you?" He teases.

I force a laugh and shake my head. "You wish, just something else to wind me up about"

Something flashes across his eyes but I can't figure out what. It was gone as soon as it came. Typical Abnegation, always wearing the masks.

"You know, I may be Abnegation but I am a smart guy." He taps on his temples. "I can always tell when someone's avoiding the question."

I laugh it off and decide to change the subject, he can't know about me, not yet, he's all I've got. If he did find out about me he'd be gone in a flash. And I'd be back on my own, again.

"So I heard about some kid stealing the wind chimes, what was all that about?"

His face grows serious again and he shakes his head. "Probably some friendship group initiation prank. I'm sure we'll find them soon. Besides, they're not exactly the most suttle thing."

He was right. Big silver wind chimes that hung outside the back door. Why someone would steal them was beyond me. The pipes were rusty and the sounds weren't right. The chimes were bent and out of tune anyway.

He speaks up again. "Probably an Amity kid thinking it was okay to take them because they were hung outside the Amity classroom. You know how they are with all that kind of stuff. Remember Eric, sharing is caring!" He retorts sarcastically.

We both laugh and eat our lunches. We continue chatting about the school, our factions and anything that comes to mind until the bell tolls, ordering me back into class. I groan and say my goodbyes to Andrew, dreading the afternoon. Candor lesson then Abnegation. Who would've thought?

I start to make my way back towards the Candor classroom when I see a dark shape out of the corner of my eye. I turn to look, but see nothing there. It's not until I turn back that I see the small Dauntless girl staring at me from a distance. I'm about to shout something to her but she runs off behind the building, running at an incredible speed judging from how short her legs are.

 **Tobias' POV**

I wander round the school on my own, avoiding all the teachers and their concerned looks. I've found a nice spot by this big oak tree out by the fence line of the school. Nobody can be bothers to walk that far so it's nice to get away and have some alone time to think. Usually it's about school life and why I had a friend one day and he was gone the next. I try not to think about home, about all the memories that come with it. No, I can't think about his right now. Otherwise I'll cry. Crying means attention. Attention is bad. I focus my thoughts on the main occurrences this week with Eric and school, pushing any thought of home and him to the back of my mind.

Eric hasn't spoken to me all week. Why? Did I say something wrong? Did I offend him? Did I smell? No, I took a shower the night before. Great. I used up my weeks warm water supply for nothing. So what was it? What did I do? Is it because of my faction? No, it couldn't be, Jeanine's main rule is to treat all like your own faction. That's what keeps the 'peace'. Yeah that's what she calls it. Over ruling factions just because they have the technology to do so. I'm lost in my train of thought when it suddenly hits me.

Oh god.

Oh no. No, no, no, no!

He saw them. He saw the bruises.

 **Okay so that was something a little different to see if it flowed? What do you guys think? Please let me know! I think it's really important to hear your thoughts as it's just as much your story as it is mine. Anyway, I'll probably update this story at the weekend as i'm still at college so have that to focus on as well. Thank you guys for reading and following, it really means a lot to me!**

 **Love always, Jess xx**


	4. Note

**Thank you for the review CharlotteCharli! Sorry about the mix up with Tobias, it's just old habits** **J** **Anyway, next chapter will be up next weekend, please keep reviewing as it really helps me with my writing**

 **Love always, Jess xx**


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